Buying & Selling Solicitor Fees

11cas

Would anyone be able to give me a rough idea of how much the solicitor fees would be for selling a house with an approx value of £250K and buying a house with an approx value of £400K would cost in solicitor fees. Does the solicitor fees vary depending on value of the house (ignoring the stanp and estate agent fees) or is there a fairly standard solicitor fee for buying and selling?

I can work out the stamp duty and the estate agent fees but I'm not sure where to find an estimate of the solicitor costs.

Thanks for your help

cattie

I'm not sure if the solicitor fee varies depending on price of house, but it's best to get a few quotes to compare anyway.

I've just agreed a sale on my house & the actual legal fee I've been quoted for the sale by local solicitors has been between £600-£800 plus vat on top. This is at an agreed sale price of £250k for quick sale.

Luckily for me a solicitor I've used a couple of times in the past for sale and purchases has just offered me a loyal customer discount of 15% on their legal fee.

Although they hare no longer in my area, they are within easy traveling distance and have the cheapest sale fee of all at £475 before my discount is applied. And as I know they do get on with the job and are always respond to phone queries promptly, I have no qualms about using them once more.

I know with some solicitors you need to watch out for what might not be included as part of their fee as this can make what seems a reasonable quote quite costly in the end.

G_M

Some conveyancers charge a fixed fee (plus disbursements).
Some conveyancers charge a fee based on the property value (plus disbursements).
Some conveyancers charge an houly fee (plus disbursements).

A ballpark might be £350 - £1350.

But when comparing quotes, get a breakdown as some will be all-inclusive and some may have hidden extras in their terms and conditions.

Read here.

adindas

cattie wrote: »

I've just agreed a sale on my house & the actual legal fee I've been quoted for the sale by local solicitors has been between £600-£800 plus vat on top. This is at an agreed sale price of £250k for quick sale.

Luckily for me a solicitor I've used a couple of times in the past for sale and purchases has just offered me a loyal customer discount of 15% on their legal fee.

.

Is this quote include all the fee such as
- Solicitor basic fee
- All searches (Local Authority, Bankruptcy, Local/Water/Enviro searches)
-All Admin Land registration, Telegraphic transfer, Mortgage fee, etc)

cattie

No, when a solicitor quotes their legal fee, it is just that, their charge for charge for carrying out the necessary legal work on behalf of your purchase or sale. Everything else is considered disbursements by solicitors and is added to the final cost, along with the dreaded vat of course.

11cas

Thanks for the replies-it's appreciated.

arbrighton

cattie wrote: »

No, when a solicitor quotes their legal fee, it is just that, their charge for charge for carrying out the necessary legal work on behalf of your purchase or sale. Everything else is considered disbursements by solicitors and is added to the final cost, along with the dreaded vat of course.

Funnily enough, the quotes I received for conveyancing did actually manage to include those in their figure (and stamp duty as well which made the total rather eyewatering)

adindas

arbrighton wrote: »

Funnily enough, the quotes I received for conveyancing did actually manage to include those in their figure (and stamp duty as well which made the total rather eyewatering)

Same here. my quote also include stamp duty which is in my case 1%.

I will definitely very cautious with conveyancing solicitor which only quote their basic fee. This will mean once you appoint them they could charge anything they want and play another game for any disbursement in the future. Nothing they could do with Land registration fee but what about local authority search, Location specific local search.